People Just Assumed
by sierra.steinbrecher
Summary: People assumed Severus was a Death Eater. People assumed Severus enjoyed greasy hair. They also assumed she was a man. Fem!Snape. Don't own. Cover art courtesy of YaoiLoverSama.
1. Genius isn't Everything

Genius is definitely not all it's cracked up to be. I found that out when I was seven.

For one, it makes you overconfident. I'd brewed potions like Draught of the Living Death easily enough, so when Mother gave me a book with more difficult potions, I of course went straight for the most interesting one.

The Polyjuice potion.

The possibilities were amazing. I could be whoever I wanted for an hour! It was an advanced potion, sure, but Mother encouraged me to try it. She even bought all those rare ingredients for me when Father wasn't looking. I knew she went without new clothes for a while, but she thought it was worth it. I love my mother, really. Which is one of the reasons I hate the fact that I was, and still am a genius.

I brewed the potion over the next month, paying careful attention and adding all the right ingredients at the best times I could. Of course, I had to work around my father, so some of my timing in adding them wasn't ideal, but I did other things to make up for it, like extra stirring and spells. When it was finally ready, I had to pick a subject.

I had to pick someone who I could approach easily to get the genetic material, but it also had to be someone who looked like me, at least a little. That way, if Father saw me while I was transformed, he probably wouldn't think anything of it. The man never really looked at me anyway, unless it was to aim his kicks. The boy down the street was a good fit, I thought. He had the same dark hair, sallow skin, and even a similar nose shape. The nose was the most important, since I could change the other things but…my nose was rather prominent, even as a child. I was rather self-conscious about it. I actually still am, as much as my students would like to think otherwise.

I took a hair off his jacket while we were at the park one time. He didn't even notice me doing it. I ran back to the house where Mother was waiting. "Are you ready, Severus?" I nodded yes. We hurried into the back of the garage where I kept my cauldron, still simmering with the brew inside.

She handed me a teacup. I filled the potion to the brim with the potion and placed the hair inside. It changed into an unremarkable brown color, mundane but not especially unpleasant. I could see how it was a reflection of the boy I had chosen to change into. Then I looked at Mother, a little shy. "Could you leave me alone? I'd like to watch the change." I gestured down below. After all, I wanted to see how the only female features I presently had would become those of the opposite gender. It was one of the main reasons I'd brewed the potion in the first place. If I couldn't change the way I looked outside my clothes, I wanted to at least feel a little different. This would suffice.

Mother left me alone and I stripped. As a prepubescent girl, there really wasn't much to look at. I was looking forward to having a form like Mother's, which was not overly feminine but very beautiful when she wanted to be. She didn't want to be very often though. Maybe I would change into her next! But first, I had to down the drink in my hand.

The taste was disgusting, worse than the time I'd tried Father's beer before Mother saw. I drank the whole thing in one go, eager to get it over with. Then I watched, with fascination, as my skin bubbled and changed along my surface. I focused on my arms most, not quite having the courage to look down just yet. When the irritating feeling ceased, I looked down at myself and found all the desired parts to be in place. I was still small, with the same black hair and hooked nose. I ran my hands over my skin. Rough, but it was lighter than my own. I hastily put my clothes back on and ran inside to show Mother.

She was so excited! I'd successfully brewed a very difficult potion and the effects were just as we had hoped! We went to the park and I tried out all the things I'd been too weak to do as a girl and discovered how much more I could do, like take the monkey bars two at a time. We hurried home after the hour was up and retreated into my bedroom to wait for the changes.

We waited.

And waited.

And nothing happened.

Mother was very pale. "When did you add the Lacewing Flies?"

"Well, the potion book said to add them three days after the full moon, but Father was home that night and I couldn't get away. So I had to add them the next night."

Mother's face drained of what little color it had left. I looked at the clock and realized something. It was an hour and a half after I'd taken the potion. I wasn't changing back.

That realization led to hours of research between the times when Father was home. Mother's potion library was extensive and cleverly hidden with magic. We poured over old volumes, looking for antidotes, gender switching potions, anything that might bring back the little girl I was.

Finally, after a month of research, we found the book that decided my fate. It wasn't actually a potions book. It was a research magazine from about two years ago, titled "Potions Published". The focus of that issue had been the Polyjuice Potion. Candice Swickers had done extensive research into the timing of the potion, trying to find a way to make the process less tricky. He'd made the same mistake I had.

He'd been stuck as a very handsome man for over ten years.

It would be a long time before I saw my own face again.

That is why genius is not all it's cracked up to be.

**Review! Give this story some love so I know whether or not it's worth continuing.**


	2. Growing Pains

At first, the change didn't affect me. Lily was still my friend. My father still kicked and struck me, although now he had more painful places to target. And I was still a genius. Things were just the same.

Until I turned eleven.

And got the letter of my dreams.

Hogwarts wanted me. I could go there and learn more about potions and magic; get away from the stupid muggles like my father. I would be with other witches and wizards, kids my own age with my talents. When I found out Lily was going too, I was even happier. My best and only friend was coming with me to the place where there wouldn't be anyone to say we were freaks. Thank Merlin that idiot Petunia wasn't coming.

We sat together on the train, just the two of us, talking about the different school books we'd bought and which ones were our favorites. Mine was the potions book, of course, although it wasn't nearly as advanced as I was used to. Lily loved the Charms textbooks, which I thought a very fitting favorite. She'd charmed me easily enough. She was my friend, wasn't she?

I knew about the Sorting of course. That could potentially split us up, but I didn't think so. She was so clever and fun that she just HAD to be in Slytherin with me. I was talking with her about the merits of that most underrated house when James Potter invaded our compartment.

He was what made my sex change a problem.

Because as soon as I saw him, I fell, and fell hard. Right before he opened his mouth.

His bigoted view of the Houses acted as a major turnoff, thank Merlin. I managed to hide behind my distain of that attitude for the rest of the train ride and Sorting, at least until I was seated at the Slytherin table. Then I had other faces to occupy my mind, like dark but sweet Regulus Black and sleek Lucius Malfoy. If I'd been female, I would have blushed from all the attention.

But I wasn't, and couldn't stand having to explain myself or, worse, been called gay. So I kept up the act of boyish cuteness Mother and I had practiced in preparation for my entrance into Hogwarts. That practice served me well my first three years there. I even began to forget to think of myself as female. I maintained my friendship with Lily and steered clear of Potter, unaware of how this made people, specifically gossipy girls, talk.

Then, in my fourth year, I was once again reminded that I was not who I pretended to be.

(Line Break)

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Severus jolted up in bed, panting hard.

Regulus turned over and looked at him. His roommate was covered in a cold sweat and holding the sides of his head. He looked petrified, and not the basilisk-induced kind. "Severus, are you alright?"

He seemed to notice how frenzied he looked and put his hands down, although a quiver still ran through him.

He looked at the young prodigy's face. Yep, he was totally freaked out. "Bad dream?" The black curtain of hair swayed as Severus nodded. "Want to talk about it?"

The sallow face jerked up. "Merlin, no."

_Ah, _thought Regulus. _It had been one of __**those **__dreams. _He'd had his first one last year during the summer, accompanied by the need to change the bedding. Thank Merlin Sirius hadn't caught him doing that. Regulus smiled to himself at the memory and curled up on his bed again, trying for a few more hours of sleep.

Severus got up and walked to the lavatory. The first time she'd had a dream like that she'd gone into a panic and had owled Mother, hoping for an explanation. Mother had sent a book on puberty, something she was very glad the others hadn't seen yet. It had explained most of the facts, so the dream itself wasn't what was making the potions lover panic.

It was who had been in the dream this time. During previous nights, her thoughts had been properly filled with the handsome faces occupying the other beds in her house dormitory. Regulus had been most often, most likely because of his sweeter nature, in contrast to the coldness other students showed her for being only half a wizard, as they called it. But it hadn't been Regulus this time. It hadn't even been a Slytherin.

It had been James.

She had dreamed that James Potter was on top of her, naked, and leaning in for a kiss. Thankfully, she had woken up screaming before the dream could go any further, but it was still disturbing. Why had she dreamed about him? He bullied her constantly, sometimes using her own spells to do it.

She reached out and touched her reflection in the mirror. Still the same greasy hair, still the same hooked nose. Her gaze traveled downward along with her mood. Still the same flat chest, narrow hips, still the same messed up body. It hurt that she was going through a boy's changes and not the female ones she should have experienced. Instead of proudly noting the new curves puberty would have afforded her, she'd had to hide a cracking voice. At least she'd discovered that little fact in private, not in a classroom or, worse, in the Great Hall.

So the dreams had been a sort of reassurance, showing that her mind hadn't forgotten she was female on the inside, where it really counted. And there were only a few years left of this, if the research she'd done since coming here was any indication. Severus ran her hands over her flat chest. Maybe the changes she went through as a boy would carry over to her female side too. Maybe, when she finally got her true form back, it would be beautiful.

Calling up a picture of her mother, Severus's ultimate idea of beauty, she changed it a bit here and there, adding the larger nose that was still a sore spot, straightening the hair until it was her own curtain, and finally daring to add that last touch of a smile. To make sure she got it right, the girl turned around and smiled for the mirror. It wasn't the sneer she used for the other slytherins when loyalties were in question. This was the smile she reserved to her potions books or rare conversations with Lilly when she'd escaped her housemates. The smile, and image of her improved self, helped cheer up the fourteen year old. She went back to bed, hopeful, and trying desperately to ignore the fact that she was attracted to the same person who would hang her by her ankles the next day.

**I will explain the name in later chapters. Review!**


	3. Hate

Severus hated the Marauders.

She hated Sirius Black who, despite over twenty generations of Slytherins and a brother in that same house, had been sorted into Gryffindor and now thought he could look down on everyone in her house like a second class citizen. How could Regulus even be related to the brute? He could have gotten her killed with that werewolf stunt, not to mention gotten his friends in serious trouble! The man had less loyalty than a dog!

She hated Peter Pettigrew, the idiot without a spine who followed the other three like a lost puppy. No. That was a disgrace to dogs. He was lower than that. He was a rat. She couldn't believe he'd managed to find a place with the Dark Lord. The… sniveler had absolutely no redeeming qualities other than his in with Dumbledore's gang. If he was that pressed for spies, why not enchant a few rodents and be done with it?

She hated Remus Lupin. Did he take no precautions about that condition? Did he let his friends use him as a death trap? And then he acted like a good little boy and covered his disgrace with a prefects badge and soft manner. And he had the audacity to try and befriend her. The worst part was that, before she knew who and what he was, she had almost fallen for that act. Talk about a wolf in sheep's clothing.

But more than any of them, she hated James Potter. So full of himself, so undeniably Gryffindor material, so… Severus started sobbing. Why had he been the one to play the hero and save her because he wanted to stop Sirius from getting expelled and Remus from getting exposed, only to make her hope that maybe he actually cared for her? Why had he been the one who knocked her out in front of the Whomping Willow and carried her to the doorway to the Slytherin common room so gently it didn't even wake her up?

Why had he left his scent on the clothes she was currently burying her nose in?

She realized what she was doing and threw last night's cloak away from her. She felt the urge to burn it, which would have been a waste of a perfectly good cloak, even if it did smell like the boy whose cruelty and devastatingly attractive nature had tormented her to no end over the last five years.

It was times like these that Severus wished her outward appearance was actually true. If it was, she wouldn't be so twisted up inside. Dismissing him as a rival for Lilly's affections would have been so much easier than the cauldron of emotions inside her right now. Oh, how she wished that the story the rest of the school believed was actually true, that Severus the boy genius was in love with Lilly and a hateful rival with James. Why did she have to fall in love with someone so far out of reach that even thinking about him made her teeter over the abyss?

And why did he have to call her a greasy git? Did he think she enjoyed having hair like this? Did he have any idea how many different spells, potions, and even muggle hair products she'd used to try to get rid of the oil that made her hair stringy and disgusting to the touch? And it wasn't even what she should have been experiencing.

Sure, her hair had been greasy before, and with the onset of puberty it would naturally have gotten worse, but this was ridiculous! When she ran a hand through her hair, it came back damp! And it was all because of that stupid potion! She and Mother had been trying to figure it out for over three months when they finally got their answer.

Because of the reversal, her hormones were completely out of whack, which was making some parts of puberty react more fully than others. So, while her chest remained mercifully hairless-although that came with teasing from the other boys-her oil glands were working overtime. Her oily black locks were a constant reminder that she wasn't who she was supposed to be.

At least her name hadn't been changed for a more masculine one. Heh. That was the only good thing her father had given her. He'd demanded that his wife would have a son, and when she hadn't, Father had ignored the fact of his baby's sex and named her Severus. In the beginning, her gender had been his excuse for the beatings, until his alcoholic habits ruined his memory to the point that he only remembered to beat her, not the reason why he did. But at least her name was still hers.

So why did James never use it? Greasy git, Snivillus, bat, beak-nosed freak… anything but her name. Why couldn't he just once call her Severus, even if it was an insult. She just wanted to hear him say her name, the only real thing she had left.

Severus drew her curtains together, cast the muffliato charm, and cried into her pillows.

**I know it's shorter, but bear with me. The next chapter is HUGE!**

***Pulls big puppy dog eyes and sits her chin on top of the review box* Please?**


	4. She's Back!

Severus woke up on the last day of the End of Term Feast and was about to take off the covers when she noticed something that made her heart speed up. Her shirt was oddly uncomfortable. She took a mental scan of her person and noted that her pants were also tighter around the…hips. Her eyes widened and she bolted for the lavatory.

Quickly, she set up some sound and sight barriers, although it was unlikely anyone else would be up at this hour. Once the charms were in place, she dared to turn around and look at herself in the mirror.

And, for the first time since she was seven, she saw her real self. There were her high cheekbones and longer hair, although the grease hadn't left and it was longer than she could see from this angle. Her hooked nose was still stubbornly protruding from her face, but her lashes were longer and her lips fuller. The knowledge that her face was entirely hers again gave her the courage to investigate the rest of her person, with the small, attractive changes to her complexion as the driving force behind her curiosity.

Severus stripped and breathed with relief and quiet delight when she saw the curves. Her painfully masculine transition into adulthood had indeed transferred over and given her all the niceties of a woman. Her breasts were not voluptuous, little more than a handful, which she discovered when she cradled them to her chest. But she hadn't expected or wanted enormous curves, and the ones she did have suited her tall and slender frame very nicely.

As a boy, her thin body had been an object of ridicule, with names like beanpole, stretchy, or worse. And her impressive height had only worsened the problem. But now, with the gentle flaring of her hips and additions up higher, she looked more willowy than scrawny. Severus had her mother's figure. She spun slowly in front of the mirror, taking in the curve of her new back and the length of her black hair. It seemed that the years spent as a boy hadn't been effected by the numerous haircuts and given her hair time to grow. She stood a little over six feet tall, and her hair reached almost to the floor. The curtain, with its gloss and straight silkiness, was one of the most beautiful things Severus had ever seen. It was so lovely that she almost started to cry when she realized something.

It had to come off. That soft curtain had to be removed in favor of the shorter, but not quite boy's style she'd worn during her time at Hogwarts. She still had to attend the End of Term Feast, and no one could see her like this, feminine. She'd spent all seven years of her school career as a man, and her initiation into her Lord's ranks had been as a man as well. Would she able to tell them the truth?

Well, not the school. They were too immature to handle something like that, with the exception of Lily, although they had drifted significantly, and Regulus. But definitely not James. No. She would have to hide her gender, at least until she got home and could rejoice with Mother about it.

With that thought firmly fixed in her head, she uttered a severing charm and felt the weight lighten as that beautiful hair mounded on the floor of the bathroom. She banished it with another flick and dressed herself before removing the concealment charms around her and the mirror. She went back to her trunk and lifted out her Slytherin scarf. It wasn't bulky knit, and was wide, so it was adequate to flatten the lovely swell on her chest. She again retreated to the bathroom to bind her chest and don her uniform, inspecting herself in the mirror to ensure her body didn't look too different. But her face was still undeniably feminine to anyone who knew her.

Should she leave it like that? It would reveal that something was different, but only to those who actually cared about her. She doubted anyone besides Regulus would notice, as the other Slytherin boys tended to ignore her when they didn't need her help and the other houses hated her on multiple levels for attracting so much attention from the teachers and earning so many house points for her work in Potions and Charms. She finished buttoning her shirt and slipped her robe around her shoulders before turning around.

That was when Severus realized her mistake.

She'd forgotten to put up the concealment charms.

That meant, judging by the look of utter astonishment from the other boy, Regulus had seen the whole thing.

*Thirty Minutes Later*

"So that's what happened." Severus had just finished telling Regulus the story about her sex change. She lowered her eyes to the coverlet of her bed where they had sat while Severus explained. "I know it's a lot to take in, but…"

"No, I believe you." She looked up. Regulus was grinning at her. "It certainly explains why you were never interested in girls. We all thought you were gay."

She scoffed and threw a pillow at him. He ducked and laughed. "And what about Lily?"

Regulus tossed back the fluffy white projectile. "Oh, come on. You never made a move for her, and had dozens of opportunities. Any hot-blooded guy would have at least tried, but not you. Always the ge-" He got cut off by a mouthful of pillow, again.

He took the pillow away from his face and took a better look at the now-laughing Severus. It seemed that sex hadn't been the only thing switched. While the boy Severus had been on no one's top ten hot guy's list, the woman currently sitting with him could easily have attracted attention. And not just from school friends. "Sev?"

"Yeah?" she said, still smiling.

"Have you thought about how this is gonna affect the group?" He tapped his left forearm.

She frowned a little. "I'll probably have to prove myself again, but other than that, I didn't think it was going to be a problem."

Regulus almost wanted to hit her in her stupidity. "Sev, our group doesn't have very high morals. Most of them are men. And the women are either psychos or already promised. What do you think would happen to someone like you in that situation?"

Her eyebrows knotted together before her face went pale with understanding. She was going to have to be more careful now than ever. "Do you think I could just…"

He shook his head. "You already promised to serve. The only thing stopping him from branding you right now is your age. I got mine early because of my family, but at this stage, it doesn't matter whether or not you have the mark. You've got to go through with it. But that means you can't let anyone find out about…well…that." He gestured towards her now lithe figure.

"Figures," she choked out, and Regulus look up to see that his friend was crying. "I get all of ten minutes as my real self before I have to hide again."

**Updates will get slower after this, since it's the last of the prewritten chapters. I also have to follow Canon somewhat after this, so bear with and encourage me through REVIEWS!**


	5. Two Women

Regulus helped her cast a thick concealment charm to hide her feminine face, and the loose robes alone were enough to hide her modified figure. But the Black still couldn't look at her without some form of worry. What if something spilled on her robes and she had to go change? What if someone caught her in the act? What if the charm failed at some point? Not just the Slytherins but mostly likely the whole hall would notice her now very lovely face.

Severus saw the different emotions flitting across his face and touched his hand with hers. "It's going to be fine. I've been hiding for ten years. I'm pretty good at it."

He jerked his hand away. "Severus, you can't do that."

She asked, "Do what?"

"Hold hands with another guy. It makes you look…well, either gay or girly."

She flinched. "And I obviously don't need to look like either of those things, even if the school is convinced I'm the former." They shared a laugh at that, Regulus now knowing just how ridiculous it was. Severus Snape was many things, including genius, female, and _very _sharp-tongued, but she was not gay.

They walked through the empty common room and out to the owlry, where Severus sent one of the school owls to tell her mother the good news. She would of course be going to see her before joining up with the Death Eaters, but you never knew. The owl might get there before she did, at the rate it was flying.

The feast was rather uneventful, with James staying at his allotted table and sulking at the fact that the Slytherins had, once again, won the house cup. Severus received numerous pats on the back from her housemates and glares from the other tables. It was a well-known fact that at least half their points were due to her genius. She zoned out of the rest of the festivities and only truly focused when she was back on the train.

Regulus and her had found an empty compartment, had spelled the doors to keep out intruders, cast _Muffliato _spells everywhere, and had taken other various precautions to ensure their privacy. This allowed Severus to fully remove her bindings and live the next few hours as her real self. Somehow, just the fact that she could feel the extra weight on her chest made games like Exploding Snap a lot more fun. Perhaps it was the lack of wrongness.

After their fifth game and a few minor burns, Regulus sat back and looked at the female across from him. "I didn't get to tell you this morning, with all the other stuff going on, but…"

She tilted her head at his hesitation. "But what?"

"You're actually very lovely."

The response was immediate. Severus blushed to the roots of her hair. Sadly, that was one of the only compliments she'd received since coming to school that wasn't about her academic progress. But it still felt wonderful.

Once they reached the station, both the wizard and witch worked at dropping the spells and headed out to the crowds to find their companions, which in Severus's case was her mother and in Regulus's was his younger brother and parents. The man turned and gave his friend a hug. "I'll see you at the initiation ceremony, then."

"Yes." And she squeezed back before letting go fully. Her mother was waiting, and Severus wasn't going to miss her face once she saw that her daughter was once again female in body as well as soul.

Of course, the unveiling had to wait until they were home and under similar protections to the ones she and Regulus had used on the train. After Severus finished casting the spells, she turned to her mother, who was slightly confused about all the precautions. "What is it, Severus?"

She ducked her head, trying to hide the smile that was creeping up on her. "I just didn't think Father should see this. You know how he gets."

"Gets about what?"

Severus gathered the shoulder portions of her robe in her hand and prepared to slip it off. "Me being a girl." And she let the robe fall, revealing her in all her female splendor.

Mother squealed. She actually squealed, before pouncing on her daughter and wrapping her in an enormous hug. Oh, how good that felt. Then her mother pulled away. "Let me look at you."

Severus was a few inches taller than her mother, although she didn't have the older woman's long hair, courtesy of her need to stay secret. She ran her hand over her daughter's still-short hair and then without warning dragged her upstairs and into her bedroom.

When Severus felt the blindfold slip over her eyes, she asked, "What are you doing?"

The other woman giggled. "You'll see in a minute. Now stay still." She obeyed, a little uncomfortable. The feeling grew as she felt her mother slipping off her clothes. She was about to protest when she felt something smooth descend over her head and hug her new form.

Ah, so that's what she was doing. Severus stood while her mother tied the dress behind her and meekly followed when she was guided over to a chair where her blindfold was removed after she gave her solemn word not to look. Pulling ensued as her hair was twisted, pinned, and generally fussed with. Then an order to relax her face penetrated the girl's ears and, once she had done so, a variety of brushes and other implements danced across her face. Mom was going all the way. Finally, she pronounced her daughter ready, enchanted a section of the wall into a floor length mirror, and told Severus to open her eyes.

Gone were the loose school clothes. She was dressed in a floor length gown that hugged her slim frame the small but gentle curves were accentuated by the shimmery quality of the dress and the deep black forced out the ivory tones in her skin and deep blue shimmer of her hair. The tresses in question were swept up behind her head in an elegant French twist, held in by two combs ornamented with black butterfly wings.

Her hooked nose was still the most predominant feature of her face, but the dark brown shade Mother had used on her lips and the golden eye makeup drew your attention away from the beaky protrusion and towards her more delightful features. Mother was a master. "It's wonderful, Mother."

Severus knew she would have to tell her mother the truth soon, that she couldn't stay in this form for long, but decided to wait until the next day. She had a week before her full initiation into Lord Voldemort's ranks. Surely sometime during that week she would tell her mother everything.

**This is actually not a romance, people. There will be no little Severuses running around. Besides, Regulus has his own canon ending that I'm using.**

**That said, I still love hearing people's opinions! Review!**


	6. In the Ranks

Severus wound the large bandage around her chest and fastened the ends in place, turning to make sure her figure was securely hidden. Satisfied with her profile, the potions mistress donned the long hooded robes she'd received from Regulus for the ceremony and fixed the porcelain mask in place. Her first real one would be the skull of her first kill. Oh joy.

She swept out of the house, past the living room where her mother sat, turned away from her. The news of what Severus was planning to do hit her mother hard, not just because of the fact that she was again masquerading as a man, but also because of the danger she was putting herself into. But the pledge had been made, and there was no backing out now without winding up dead.

A quick apparition later and she stood in a graveyard, surrounded by tall but crumbling headstones and dark figures clothed in much the same way as herself, only some with an actual bone mask instead of the delicate pottery she currently sported. Some, like Lucius, were easily identified by their stature, while others were a completely mystery. The only one not completely shrouded in black was the Dark Lord.

Standing there in the moonlight, pale with dark hair, this man almost seemed handsome, but she knew what he would be to her. Anything resembling something other than a servant-master relationship was absolutely out of the question. As he spoke, his silky voice resonated through the clearing. "Friends and followers, we have gathered together tonight to witness the addition of a prized wizard to our ranks. One of the Noble House of Prince, perhaps the greatest potions mind of this generation, and one wholly devoted to our cause. Severus Snape."

The silence wavered as the many around the cemetery murmured their ascent or commented on the illustrious nature of the new recruit. But silence reigned again as soon as the Dark Lord opened his mouth. "Are you prepared, Severus Snape?"

She lifted her bowed head. "Yes, my Lord."

He nodded and ordered one of the Death Eaters to bring forth her final test. A man was thrown none too gently in front of her. She looked at his face.

It was her father.

Tied and gagged, still slightly inebriated, he did not notice the figure of his daughter kneeling at his side, staring into his unfocused eyes. Nor did he understand that the other, taller figure had just ordered her to kill him to prove her loyalties once and for all.

Severus cast the spell and the lights in his eyes dimmed without any chance of relighting again. Severus had finally managed to kill the man who made her life worse than death for all those years before she started school and during every holiday since then. It felt amazing.

She rose from her kneeling position and the body was carried away to be disposed of later. The Dark Lord still towered over her, but not a looming sort of presence, more like a king about to grant knighthood. "Hold out you left arm."

She extended the asked-for appendage and he placed his wand just above her wrist. Five seconds of pain later, the Dark mark was inscribed upon her skin.

As the ceremony dictated, she took her other arm, lifted her wand, and cast the Dark mark into the heavens for all to see and cover in front of. There was a new kill in Magical Britain.

There was a new Death Eater.

Severus did not have to kill for many years after that night. Her role in the Dark Lord's ranks was that of potions master and, on occasion, healer. The wizarding world grew even more fearful of the mounting threat as the raids intensified, due to the fact that more fighters were available at any given moment, an excess provided by the abilities of The Half Blood Prince, as Snape liked to call herself.

Because of this, Severus was the only Death Eater to rise through the ranks because of the good she could do, not the number of people she could kill. Those like Bellatrix, who lived for blood, looked down on her, but Regulus was very happy with the arrangement. After all, if she never went into battle, there wasn't much of a chance of her getting injured. Lord Voldemort, it seemed, was aware of just how much losing his healer would cripple him.

The Dark Lord also allowed her a wide berth for research, as long as the outcomes were beneficial for their cause. Many different poisons and antidotes evolved from this research, as well as adaptions to the Polyjuice Potion, which was, ironically, Severus's greatest achievement. Voldemort enjoyed testing her latest brews on muggle victims, and magical ones when he could capture them alive.

Severus was in heaven. She could do all the research she wanted, with no laws to reign in her genius and no shortage of test subjects, if she just looked the other way. None of the Death Eaters dared touch her for fear of what she would do to them next time they came to her for healing or a potion of some sort.

Avery had tried to hex her and, next week when he ended up with a broken arm, Severus somehow found it necessary to regrow all the bones instead of merely mending them. Oh yes, Snape might not kill, but she had other ways of dealing with those who got on her bad side, and some might even say it was a fate worse than death.

She was going to the Hog's head to meet a contact for illegal potions ingredients when she caught whiff of a very interesting conversation.

**To all my reviewers-**

**For those of you who are enjoying my story for what it is and encouraging me, please keep it up!**

**Unfortunately, those who do are few and far between. Many protest my decision to refrain from romance and insist I turn Severus into little more than a baby maker. **

**I almost dropped this story because of those reviews, and may still do so.**

**All future reviews pertaining to romance will be either deleted or ignored. I refuse to cater to that audience and write romance for a character who is capable of so much more.**


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